Rebooting Democracy: Richard Young on Revitalizing Civic Assemblies

On this episode of Luce Change, Sean Buffington speaks with Richard Young, Executive Director of CivicLex in Lexington, Kentucky, about the power of place, and why local democracy is the most underestimated front in the fight to rebuild civic life in America. At the center of the conversation is CivicLex’s first-ever civic assembly: 36 randomly selected, demographically representative Lexington residents convening across six sessions to deliberate on proposed changes to the city charter. Like the concentric rings of a public square, the assembly draws people inward toward a shared decision–Young believes that is exactly how civic repair begins. Articles & Organizations Mentioned: CivicLex: civiclex.org American Academy of Arts and Sciences: amacad.org Everyday Democracy (Martha McCoy): everyday-democracy.org Harvard Kennedy School / Archon Fung: hks.harvard.edu Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange: kyrux.org Oak Ridge Periodic Tables (David Allred, Oak Ridge, TN): oakridgeperiodictables.com Black Yarn (Lexington, KY): blackyarn.com Outlier Media (Detroit, MI): outliermedia.org People’s Budget Office / Mural Arts Philadelphia: muralarts.org North Carolina Local News Lab Fund: nclocalnews.org Panelot (sortition software): panelot.org The Austin Common (Austin, TX): theaustincommon.com The Village Square (Liz Joyner, Tallahassee, FL): tlh.villagesquare.us Good Neighbor Week (San Francisco, CA): sfgoodneighborweek.org Department of Public Transformation: publictransformation.org Knight Foundation: knightfoundation.org Bluegrass Community Foundation: bgcf.org Interested in joining the conversation? Share this episode with a friend, follow Henry Luce Foundation on Instagram & LinkedIn, or subscribe to our newsletter.